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The Boston Herald's Mike Silverman has the details of the one-year contract the Red Sox and recently acquired outfielder Jeremy Hermida have agreed on avoiding salary arbitration. Hermida came to Boston from Florida when the club was still cutting costs in November in exchange for minor league relievers Hunter Jones and Jose Alvarez.

Hermida exchanged arbitration figures with the Red Sox last Tuesday, requesting $3.85 million for next season, with the Red Sox countering with an offer of $2.95 million. The deal comes in $55,000 below the midpoint and is a 48.7% raise over the $2.25 million Hermida made in 2009, his first year of arbitration eligibility.

Hermida started for the Marlins last season, but is expected to play off the bench for Boston, subbing for Jacoby Ellsbury in left and possibly JD Drew in right. The flexibility of new centerfielder Mike Cameron, Ellsbury and Drew to play each outfield position will give Hermida plenty of opportunities to rediscover his talent at the plate. A top-ranked prospect as he advanced through the Marlins system, Hermida made a big splash with a solid second season in 2007 at age 23. His batting line that year (.296/.369/.501) remains his high water mark as he continued to scuffle posting a .259/.348/.392 line last season. The Red Sox are hopeful that the cavernous Sun Life Stadium negatively impacted Hermida's game and that the friendly confines of Fenway Park helps him regain his stroke.

Hermida's signing reduces the number of players whose cases are pending to 27. The Red Sox have resolved all their pending cases with arbitration eligible players. Hearings are set to begin in February. Please visit the salary arbitration figures page for more information.

Joe Tetreault is a member of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey.